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October 24, 2016

SMITHVILLE ISD Earns State’s Highest Fiscal Accountability Rating

Smithville Independent School District officials announced that the district received a rating of “A” for “Superior Achievement” under Texas’ School FIRST financial accountability rating system. The “Passed” rating is the state’s highest, demonstrating the quality of Smithville ISD’s financial management and reporting system.

This is the 14th year of School FIRST (Financial Accountability Rating System of Texas), a financial accountability system for Texas school districts developed by the Texas Education Agency in response to Senate Bill 875 of the 76th Texas Legislature in 1999 and amendments under House Bill 5, 83rd Texas Legislature, Regular Session 2013. The primary goal of School FIRST is to achieve quality performance in the management of school districts’ financial resources, a goal made more significant due to the complexity of accounting associated with Texas’ school finance system.

“The Schools FIRST accountability rating ensures that Texas school districts are accountable not only for student learning, but also for achieving results cost-effectively and efficiently,” said Smithville ISD Superintendent, Dr. Rock McNulty. “The information provided by the Texas public schools’ FIRST system will guide SISD in our continued efforts to maximize each taxpayer dollar.” The Texas Education Agency assigned one of four financial accountability ratings to Texas school districts, with the highest being “A” for “Superior Achievement,” followed by “B” for “Above-Standard Achievement,” “C” for “Standard Achievement” and “F” for “Substandard Achievement. Smithville ISD has achieved the rating of Superior Achievement for the 2014-2015 rating year and maintained the rating for twelve prior years.